An article in NEJM Catalyst reviews quality-improvement efforts by nonclinical teams in healthcare organizations. Hit this link to read the piece. The authors conclude:
- “Continuous quality improvement is applicable to corporate strategic and support services, as well as clinical services.
- Applying quality improvement in corporate services can influence the clinical realm, including patient experience, outcomes, and value for money.
- Quality improvement in corporate services can help bring corporate staff closer to the clinical staff by better understanding their needs and {the} mission.
- Challenges to applying quality improvement have included access to data to understand process performance, and balancing time and energy for improvement with operational and business priorities.”